Launched in 1990 and currently sponsored by the Desjardins Movement, La Dictée P.G.L. Project is an international dictation competition which is open to young people from kindergarten to the second year of secondary school, for both francophone students and those in French as a second language classes. The project’s activities promote the learning of French in schools, while at the same time raising the students’ awareness of international realities and the importance of protecting the environment. It also broadens their appreciation of solidarity and sharing between nations.
Through its “Raise Funds to Share” program, La Dictée P.G.L. encourages students to solicit the support of their relatives and friends by pledging a donation for each correctly spelled word. Each participating school can keep up to half of the funds raised in this way for its own projects, while the remaining half is donated to the Paul Gérin-Lajoie Foundation to support its education programs for children and its literacy and vocational training projects for young adults. The Foundation’s major programs take place in Haiti, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin and Senegal.
The 2011-2012 edition of La Dictée P.G.L. was very successful and it raised $1,455,382.76, of which $834,417.80 was donated to the Foundation to fund its education programs.
